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Francona provides updates on Brantley, Kipnis, Moss, Swisher

by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com

Indians manager Terry Francona said Monday outfielder Michael Brantley (back) will likely make his spring debut Thursday against the Reds, per MLB.com. He added second baseman Jason Kipnis (hand) might not be far behind.

"He's swinging the bat really well," Francona said. "He's under control and he probably has to be (because of his knees). But he's using the whole field. He really looks good."

Swisher has been working with the team's hitting coaches on trying to go up the middle more often. Francona said that strategy has already translated to his batting practice sessions.

Running still remains an issue for Swisher, however. He was able to do some drills on Thursday, but reportedly looked uncomfortable during the session. The club expects he'll be ready for games in mid-March.

Swisher had surgery on both knees last August, but has no restrictions for hitting or throwing during camp. The club will gradually ramp up his running activities in the coming weeks. Swisher is hoping to start outfield drills in about two weeks. The club believes he'll be cleared for games by mid-March.

The 34-year-old Swisher hit .208/.278/.331 over 360 at-bats last year.

Indians first baseman/outfielder Nick Swisher said Tuesday he has been cleared for full hitting coming off knee surgery, per MLB.com. Swisher, who is also working through a running program, said he has suffered no setbacks and his checkups on the knee have gone well.

"It's been such a long time for me," Swisher said. "My excitement level, my passion and fire, it's back, man. I'm excited to just get going."

Swisher's name was mentioned in offseason trade rumors. However, he said general manager Chris Antonetti never called him, so Swisher took it as a sign the rumors did not have serious momentum.

"Chris and I have a great relationship," Swisher said. "It wasn't like there was a lot of stuff out there. It was offseason chatter, just like there is every offseason. This is a classy organization. Ever since I came over here, 'respect' is a big word in here. So I wasn't worried about that stuff. They would've called way ahead of anything."

"When you're going through those tough times," Swisher said Thursday to cleveland.com, "the love and passion for the game start to go away a little bit and you have to find something inside yourself to bring all that back. Whatever it was, I found it and I have it again and I could not be more happy for that."

Swisher found the motivation he needed to get back in shape and lost 15 pounds. After trying to play through the knee injury, Swisher admitted he should have had the surgery much sooner.

"I tried to battle through and be a tough guy," Swisher said. "To go out and not perform the way that you want to is obviously very stressful."

He hit a career low in 2014, going for a .208 average with eight home runs and 42 RBI.

"This organization paid me a lot of money for me to come over here and be on the field," Swisher said. "Whether I was healthy, I wanted to be out there every single day. Maybe that was the right call. Maybe it wasn't."